Nature-Loving Indians Turn Poachers Into Prey

By BARRY BEARAK

Published: November 29, 1998

KANKANI, India—
So the legend goes, 363 nature-loving Bishnoi villagers had their heads lopped off in 1730 as they hugged their beloved trees. A local maharajah had sent his army to cut timber, and when a woman named Amrita Devi stood in their way, soldiers decapitated her and threatened to do the same to anyone else so bold. Hundreds of others then embraced the trees in a sequence of defiant sacrifice.

Until recently, this lore was little known outside the sandy scrub of the Rajasthan desert. Now, however, the Bishnoi have become national heroes in an ecological morality play that pits simple farmers against an Indian movie idol loathsomely playing against type.

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 1, the people of Kankani were awakened by gunshots and, as is their custom, bolted out of bed to chase after yet another group of hunters. The desert is prime habitat for a small, lithe antelope known as the black buck.

''I saw their jeep race by, and my head filled up with anger,'' said Prahlad Ram, 68. ''We all began to shout and scramble. They had already killed the bucks. These animals are sacred to us, and we consider their lives more important than even our own.''

Two villagers on scooters got close enough to read the vehicle's license number. They also thought they recognized the driver to be Salman Khan, a popular young actor who had been in the area making one of his mega-action, heavy-carnage movies.

''No man, no matter how powerful, should be above the law,'' said Choka Ram, 70, another village elder. ''Had we caught him we would have beaten him severely.''

Beating is sometimes the preferred Bishnoi method of justice, though authorities have tried to convince the Bishnoi that punishment is better left to the courts. This is viewed skeptically in villages like Kankani. While the enforcement of Indian wildlife laws has been decidedly slack, the prosecution of alleged violators very often has been an outright sham.

That seemed to be the way the Salman Khan case was about to go. The state's chief veterinarian did a post-mortem examination of two black bucks and found the cause of one death to be ''overeating'' while attributing the other to a mistimed leap.

The Bishnoi were outraged, which is usually of little import. This time, however, celebrity and status -- ordinarily so useful in pulling strings -- put the accused into a worse bind.

Newspapers love to write about Mr. Khan, and the front-page publicity pressured wildlife officials to have the bucks re-examined. After further inspection, it was determined not only that the animals had suffered fatal bullet wounds but also that the state veterinarian was involved in a coverup and subject to arrest.

''Salman Khan will be found guilty, I assure you,'' said M. N. Sonal, deputy chief of the wildlife division. ''We have eyewitnesses. We have signed statements.''

As details became public, Mr. Khan's macho, quick-draw persona, so riveting on film, seemed only revolting in real life. He came to symbolize the callous rich, people untroubled by conscience, who take pleasure in donning night-vision glasses and poaching endangered species like the Bengal tiger and Sarus crane.

The movie star had been on two hunting expeditions the week before, said Mr. Sonal, citing witnesses' accounts. During one, female co-stars were said to have applauded giddily as the actor slit the throat of a wounded chinkara, an Indian gazelle. Then, back at the luxury hotel in Jodhpur, Mr. Sonal said, Mr. Khan awakened the kitchen staff, ordering chefs to slake his appetite with the forbidden meat.

The actor was arrested on Oct. 12 and has steadfastly denied all the charges. At an initial hearing he seemed carefree, joking with friends and talking on his mobile phone. He did not appear to fear the possibility of one to seven years in prison.

''The statements made against my client are all open to question,'' said one of Mr. Khan's lawyers, Jagdeep Dhankar. ''Either they have been made by people also accused of crimes with their own offenses to consider, or they have been made by the Bishnoi, people whose attraction to wildlife -- even worship of it -- twists their thinking.''

In the meantime, as moviegoers developed second thoughts about Mr. Khan's active trigger finger, the Bishnoi, who are primarily grain farmers, were being hailed for the harmonious ways of their 500-year-old beliefs. One much-reprinted, old and grainy photo showed a Bishnoi woman purportedly breast-feeding an orphaned deer.

''Yes, such things have been known to happen,'' Prahlad Ram, the village elder, said of the picture. ''Between us and the animals there is complete trust. Our teachings tell us that we must serve as protectors and nurturers of all living things.''

Essentially Hindu, the Bishnoi are followers of Jhambaji, a 15th-century guru who honed his wisdom into 29 precepts. In the canon are common proscriptions against using intoxicants or eating meat. There are also rules commending bathing and meditation, and yet others instilling a rare reverence for living things that forbids even the breaking of a twig.

In Bishnoi villages near Jodhpur, the homes often are red brick with ornate doors and grates that display relative prosperity. The elders complain that the next generation is insufficiently faithful to the 29 rules, but it is the young who are quickest to light out after hunters. Two years ago, one youth, Nihal Chand, was shot and killed while giving chase.

''He is now among our great martyrs,'' said Prahlad Ram. ''He is a true descendant of Amrita Devi and the others, who died with their arms around our great friends the trees.''

Photos: Residents of Kankani and surrounding areas have a rare reverence for living things, especially the black buck, an animal they protect by hunting down and, often, beating its poachers. (Mauri Rautkari for The New York Times); Kankani elders like Prahlad Ram, left (Barry Bearak/The New York Times), are among those accusing Salman Khan, a young movie idol, of having poached two antelopes. Mr. Khan's lawyer said villagers' love of animals ''twists their thinking.'' Mr. Ram countered that his people had a duty to serve as ''nurturers of all living things.'' (Pana India) Map showing the location of Kankani